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Within the last decade, social anxiety disorder (SAD) has been identified as a highly prevalent and burdensome disorder. Both the characterization of its symptomatology and effective treatment options are widely documented. Studies particularly indicate that SAD aggregates in families and has its onset in early adolescence. Given the family as an important context for children's cognitive, emotional and behavioural development, familial risk factors could be expected to significantly contribute to the reliable detection of populations at risk for SAD. Reviewing studies on familial risk factors for SAD argues for the importance of parental psychopathology and unfavourable family environment, but also denotes to several shortcomings such as cross-sectional designs, short follow-up periods, diverging methodologies and the focus on isolated factors. Using a prospective longitudinal study that covers the high-risk period for SAD, including a broader spectrum of putative risk factors may help to overcome many of the methodological limitations. This review sets out to develop a more family-oriented approach for predicting the onset and maintenance of SAD that may be fruitful to derive targeted prevention and early intervention in SAD.

This study examined the temporal stability of recalled parental rearing behavior (RPRB) in a community sample of adolescents and young adults (aged 15–19 at first assessment, N = 945) over a period of nearly two years. RPRB (overprotection/control, rejection/punishment, and emotional warmth, separately for mother and father) was assessed at two assessment waves (time interval: M = 21.18 months, SD = 0.09 months) using the Questionnaire of Recalled Parental Rearing Behavior. Intraclass correlations (ICCs) between both assessments were examined. ICCs were similar for maternal and paternal RPRB and slightly higher for emotional warmth (mother: .70; father: .70) than for rejection/punishment (mother: .69; father: .68) and overprotection/control (mother: .66; father: .62). These findings suggest an at least moderate temporal stability of RPRB in adolescents of the community.

Abstract. Aim: To examine in subjects aged > = 55 years the association between preceding mental disorders (MD), gender, and partnership and past 12-month problematic alcohol use (PAU; daily drinking, binge drinking, drinking in excess of health guidelines). Methods: Based on a subsample aged > = 55 years of the nationally representative DEGS1-MH study (n = 2045/4483), we examined the association of single retrospectively assessed MD, gender, partnership, and latent risk profiles with subsequent 12-month PAU-outcomes using logistic regression and latent class analysis (LCA) with auxiliary variables. Results: Younger and male subjects, subjects with one vs. no MD, and those living with a partner had a higher PAU risk. In a four-class LCA-solution, two normative classes (45.5 %, 44.9 %) with low MD and high male respectively female gender probabilities, a "male-substance use disorder-depression"- (4.0 %) and a "female-internalizing"-class (5.5 %) were found. The male-normative and the "male-substance use disorder"-class were associated with a higher PAU risk, including drinking in excess of different health guidelines (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The large group of male individuals with low MD probabilities may be relevant for predicting critical alcohol use behaviors in middle and older adulthood and may profit from low-threshold general preventive measures, while the smaller male group with elevated lifetime substance use disorder and depression risk may profit from targeted clinical interventions.

Objectives: The Behavior and Mind Health (BeMIND) study is a population‐based cohort study of adolescents and young adults from Dresden, Germany. The aim is to investigate psychological and behavioral factors linked to a range of mental disorders and health behaviors and their interaction with social‐environmental and genetic/biologic factors. Methods: A random sample of 14–21 year olds was drawn from the population registry in 2015. The baseline investigation was completed 11/2015–12/2016 (N = 1,180). Assessments include standardized diagnostic interview, cognitive‐affective tasks, questionnaires, biosamples, and ecologic momentary assessment in real life with combined actigraphic/geographic monitoring. In the family study component, parents completed similar assessments and provided information on child's early development. Results: The participation rate (minimum response proportion) was 21.7%; the cooperation rate was 43.4%. Acceptance and completion of study components were high. General health data indicate that more than 80% reported no or only mild impairment due to mental or somatic health problems in the past year; about 20% ever sought treatment for mental health problems or chronic somatic illnesses, respectively. Conclusions: Data from BeMIND baseline and follow‐up investigations will provide novel insights into contributors to health and disease as adolescents grow into adulthood.